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Tuesday, 14 April 2009

I first became aware of the 80s revival in 2008 when a colleague said she was going to a pub to listen to 80s music. But Anton Enus’ necktie makes me wonder if the 80s bug has gone mainstream in a major way.

An echo was discernable in Ali Moore’s suit on The 7.30 Report. Moore’s gold ensemble sports an embroidered pattern in the same gold colour as the ground. You’d mistake it for curtain material if it wasn’t on-camera!

This year I was in an Oxford Street club surrounded by beats and tunes familiar in my youth but I never expected to be faced with 80s fashion in my living room.

The gorgeous, complex patterning of the original power suit era - wide shouldered and double-breasted concoctions - was echoed in Enus’ tie. Its snowflake pattern is made up of hashed areas of gold and white that are printed on a deep yellow ground.

So perhaps it’s time for me to unearth the dark blue tie with tan accents that I retain in the deepest recesses of my wardrobe after so many decades of disuse. But although Enus’ tie may be the herald we require to usher out the dominant diagonal stripe of today’s business ensemble there remains one important difference between the intense and complicated ties of the 80s and this, stray, exemplum: it’s wider than mine by about 20 per cent. So while the pattern may be suitable for contemporary deployment, the width would bring unwanted attention to my choice of masculine formal decoration, rather than letting me blend in with the cool crowd.

Nevermind, I say. One day it will be acceptable as an option for my work wear, because everything old is new again. It’s only a matter of time.